Exploring MaterialsGraphene

Try this!
1. Take a piece of tape about 3 inches long.
Fold over the two ends so you have small,
non-sticky tabs to hold.
2. Use the tweezers to put a flake of graphite
on the sticky side of the tape.
3. Fold the tape in half over the graphite and
peel it apart again. Do this several more
times.
4. Stick your tape onto a white card. What do
you see?

Whats going on?

Youve made very thin layers of graphiteand maybe
even some graphene, the thinnest material that
exists! Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms
arranged in a honeycomb pattern.
You started with a flake of graphite, which is a mineral
made of many layers of graphene stacked on top of
each other. Graphite is the material in pencils,
commonly called pencil lead. This simple technique
for making graphene from graphite and tapeplus
very insightful measurements of its propertieswon
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov a Nobel Prize
in Physics in 2010!

Now try
1. Use the pencil to color in the box on your card. Be sure to fill
it in completely. Youre creating a thin layer of graphite.
2. Touch the two alligator clips to the layer of graphite. What
happens?

Whats going on?

The light bulb lights up! The graphite on the card conducts
electricity, completing the electrical circuit. Like the thicker
layers of graphite on your card, the thinner layers of graphene
on your piece of tape could conduct electricity.

How is this nano?

Graphite

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a

honeycomb pattern. Graphene is only one atom thickthats a
fraction of a nanometer! (A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.)

Flexible graphene
circuit

In the field of nanotechnology, scientists and engineers make new,

nano-sized materials and devices. Graphene has a lot of potential
in nanotechnology because of its useful properties: its flexible,
super-strong, nearly transparent, and conducts electricity.
Computer chip manufacturers are developing circuits from
graphene, by modifying it to make it a semiconductor. One day,
graphene could be used to make see-through, bendable electronic
displays, and tiny, fast computer chips.

Learning objectives
1. Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern.
2. Graphene can be a semi-conductor.

Materials

Flakes of graphite
Plastic tweezers with a pointed tip
Scotch tape
White activity cards (or index cards)
Soft drawing pencils (6B is best)
Pencil sharpener
Battery and bulb circuit (9v battery, 9v snap
connectors, 5mm LED bulb, 330 Ohm resistor,
two insulated leads)
Graphene image sheet
Photocopy master for activity cards

Batte
ry and bulb circuit

Graphite flakes can be purchased from www.graphene-supermarket.com (natural Kish

graphite, grade 200, #SKU-NKG-0501).
Battery and bulb circuit materials can be purchased from www.radioshack.com (LED bulb
#276-021, 9v battery #55039849, battery connectors #270-324, resistor #271-1113,
leads #278-1156).

Note to the presenter

If you have a molecular model set, you can build a model of graphene to supplement
the illustrations in this activity.

Related educational resources

The NISE Network online catalog (www.nisenet.org/catalog) contains additional resources
to introduce visitors to atoms, molecules, and nanomaterials:

Public programs include Balloon Nanotubes, Electric Squeeze, Forms of Carbon,

World of Carbon Nanotubes, and Tiny Particles, Big Trouble!

NanoDays activities include Exploring MaterialsFerrofluid, Exploring Materials

Hydrogel, Exploring MaterialsLiquid Crystals, Exploring MaterialsNano Gold,
Exploring MaterialsThin Films, and Exploring StructuresBuckyballs.

Media include What Happens in a NanoLab? and Zoom Into a Computer Chip.

Exhibits include NanoLab.

Graphene Background Information

What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms
arranged in a honeycomb pattern. Graphene is
only one atom thickthats a fraction of a
nanometer! (A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.)
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov created thin
layers of graphite by peeling apart tiny flakes using
scotch tape. When they measured their results, they
were surprised to learn they could create layers of a
single atom thick! Before their work, scientists didnt
think it was possible to create a sheet of carbon only
one atom thick.

Graphene

Graphene has many exciting potential uses, and this simple method makes it possible for
many scientists to study and build things from it. Geim and Novoselev won a Nobel Prize in
Physics for their work in 2010.
Graphene is just one form of carbon. Carbon atoms can bond together into many different
structures that have very different properties.

What other forms can carbon take?

Carbon can form diamond, the hardest natural
material known on Earth. But it can also form
graphite, a much softer material (commonly known
as pencil lead). Both diamonds and graphite are
made entirely from carbon. They have different
properties because the carbon atoms are arranged
differently at the nanoscale.
Carbon can also form two other tiny, nanometersized structures that are too small to see: buckyballs
and carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes are long,
hollow tubes. They look like sheets of graphene
rolled up. Buckyballs have a soccer-ball shape.

Carbon nanotubes

Buckyball

How is graphene used?

Graphenes properties make it potentially useful in many ways.
Its 100 times stronger than steel. (A thin sheet of graphene
could support an elephant!) Its also flexible and nearly
transparent. And its an excellent conductor of electricity
(slightly better than copper).

Graphene integrated
circuit

Graphene has a lot of potential in nanotechnology. IBM, Intel,

Samsung, and other computer chip manufacturers are
researching ways to use graphene in computer chips, by
modifying it to make it a semiconductor. Researchers are also
using graphene in composite materials, creating plastics that
conduct electricity. Eventually, graphene might be in thin,
flexible electronic components, transparent touch screens, and
organic solar cells.

Credits and rights

Image of flexible graphene circuit courtesy Ji Hye Hong.
Image of graphene integrated circuit courtesy IBM.
Image of graphene sheet courtesy Jannick C. Meyer.
The background information presented in this guide was adapted from:

Applications Activity: Nanoarchitecture, developed by the National Science

Foundation-supported Internships in Public Science Education (IPSE) Program at the
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) on Nanostructured
Materials and Interfaces at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The original activity
is available at: mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/IPSE/educators/carbon.html.

Carbon Nanotubes & Buckyballs, developed by the National Science Foundationsupported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) on
Nanostructured Interfaces at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The original
activity is available at: mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/nanoquest/carbon/.

Nanoarchitecture: Forms of Carbon, developed by the National Science Foundationsupported Internships in Public Science Education (IPSE) Program at the Materials
Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) on Nanostructured Materials and
Interfaces at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The original activity is available at:
mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/IPSE/educators/activities/carbon.html.
This project was supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No.
0940143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in
this program are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
Foundation.

Copyright 2011, Sciencenter, Ithaca, NY. Published under a Creative Commons AttributionNoncommercial-ShareAlike license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ .